I will be there, anybody else doing the race? I posted an email I got from one of my long time riding buddies a month ago, but it disappeared though housekeeping. He is an A rider and has done this race six times. Only read what he wrote if you are not a Vet C rider ;) . I have not ridden my bike for two months, so I am a bit worried about my state of condition. I am going to ride my bike at Hollister tomorrow to set up my suspension and them rejet my bike up there.
What Ryan wrote:
That's cool that you are going to do Wilseyville. The advice I have for this track is be careful right off the start, you'll turn to the left and drop down a fast fire road to cross a wooden bridge, a damp wet slippery wooden bridge! I have seen lot's of guys eat it on this bridge because it's usually mossy at first. I would also ride very cautious your first lap, this track always has a lot of roots lying across the trail diagonally, very slippery and lot's of rocks the first lap. The rocks are mostly round, so watch out for your front end kicking out. Most likely the course is going to run up the creek for at least two miles, yes you will ride upstream, this was the one area where I was very careful, yet passed quite a few guys. Most guys went ballistic up this stream, under the water there is a lot of mossy round rocks for the first few laps until a line becomes established. The so-called quick guys would either hit a rock and go down or get a flat tire, which then fills up your airbox, air filter and cylinder with water. By the time you yank your bike and flip it upside down to kick it through to drain the water, you have lost a lot of time. I remember at one stream crossing (you cross at a 90 degree angle) the water was flowing very quickly, BE CAREFUL. The current is strong enough to knock over your bike and carry it down stream. You will know when you come to this stream crossing because there will be a bunch of guys waiting to cross, I would advise to wait for a few seconds and watch some other guys cross it first, some will ride across, while others will walk their bike across. This particular crossing has a deep part (2-3 ft) and a very vary deep part (over 3.5 ft, more like 4 ft) look for the best line. If it rains heavy before the race, you might as well just putts, because it is going to be a survival fest, not a race. When it rains, it doesn't just sprinkle; it dumps cats and dogs and gets the stream going really, really, really fast.
I hope this helps.